Tom's Blog

Test, please ignore…

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:30:41 GMT

This is a test posting. Please ignore it.

Need a cool gift for your kids for christmas ?

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:04:08 GMT

More than 25 years ago I was struggeling with an old SHARP MZ80-K computer to teach myself assembly language and to start tiny automation projects using its parallel port.

More...

Ever wondered about the dynamics of queues?

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 12:44:09 GMT

Paukenschlag auf der Macworld

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:05:49 GMT

Es ist mal wieder Freitag…

STC 2011 - Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 08:58:00 GMT

As promised at the Swyx Technology Conference 2011 (21.06.2011) Swyx is releasing one of the many breakout sessions to the internet.

I am still unhappy with all the tools I have found so far to show the video and the presenation synchronized simultaneously. There are a couple of tools arround (with very nice features I have to admit), but they all come with uncaculateable costs.

To not let you wait any longer you will find below the video and the presentation mixed together als QuickTime (mp4) movie, as also the presentation (ppt, pptx) itself.

More...

I don’t like DotNetNuke!

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 09:50:55 GMT

I have to admit it: sometimes I really hate DotNetNuke, the content management system behind Swyx Forum.

Why?

More...

Best practice for multi-language call routing scripts (Part 1)

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 14:47:16 GMT

Once in a while it happens that I need my call routing script to be able to play announcements in different languages, depending on the caller’s location.

With this article series I want to provide some best practice for how to handle such requirements. Part 1 will deal with own announcements (self recorded), Part 2 which will follow soon will deal with system announcements (being provided by SwyxWare, like dates, times or numbers).

More...

Rebuild a 2000 year old computer out of LEGO

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 16:19:05 GMT

In 1901 divers found an ancient sort of computer in a old ship wreck near the Greek island of Antikythera. This device is since then called the Antikythera mechanism. In 2006 the mechanism was x-rayed and it functionality was revealed.

Now Andrew Carol, a software developer working for Apple, rebuild the mechanism out of 1.500 Lego bricks, including 110 spur gears.

More...

Robin Hood would love it!

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 16:07:43 GMT

Today I just want to share some nice websites with you being provided by the University of Nottingham.

More...

HTC 7 Pro

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 07:13:22 GMT

The successor of my current HTC Touch Pro 2, the HTC 7 Pro, looks quite promising. Only drawback: I’ll have to wait till spring next year

More...

Ideas worth spreading

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:01:38 GMT

Do you know the website http://www.ted.com/ ?

TED is a platform to collects important speeches and ideas from important persons of our time. The page does not give advantage to any area of living, in fact it covers everything: science, religion, politics and even cooking.

More...

Roots

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 08:52:12 GMT

I have lots of different fields of interest, as you might have already figured from my previous blog posts. There is for example polar exploration, science history, early cultures and archaeology on a really long list.

There are two fields which are especially nowadays filled with so much impressive development, breathtaking news nearly every day that keep me more or less stunned like a little boy: astronomy and space flight.

With websites like scienceblogs.com, apod, eso, nasa and astronews it is easy to keep up with all the latest developments.

More...

Code, Code, Code, …

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 09:33:57 GMT

While I was searching today within my numerous script folders of past projects I’d found a couple of useful functions I want to share. (I wonder why I didn’t do so before…).

I have posted them into the forum and linked them in the SwyxPEDIA Wiki here on Swyx Forum. Some of them where actually already available in some older forum posts.

So, if you are looking for ECR scripting inspiration you might want to take a look into the SwyxPEDIA Wiki (scroll down until SwyxWare Development).

New project: Conference Room Manager

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 09:29:43 GMT

Hello everbody !

I am very proud to announce the availability of the Conference Room Manager open source project on Swyx Forum.

The Conference Room Manager for SwyxWare allows users or administrators to setup Conferences based on the built-in Conference Function. An unlimited number of Conference Rooms can be booked through a customizable, Multilanguage-capable Webinterface that allows flexible setup of Conference Time, Users to invite and PINs.

More...

Pixels

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:39:30 GMT

I hope, this is just a bad dream …

PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.

;-)

To share or not to share…

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:20:05 GMT

Communities live or die from the willingness of their members to actively take part. The more people actively take part, the more every single community member participates. This of course includes the passive as also the active members.

If a member becomes an active part of a community or stays passive in the background, silently listening to what’s going on, depends on his personal liking. There shouldn’t be any pressure to “promote oneself” if it is not wanted.

I for myself can say, that I gained a lot from communities (in a professional perspective). My first modem more than 20 years ago brought me into BBSs to meet people being able answering my questions and to my very surprise they were willing to do so. Over the time the (electronic) world evolved and I spent more time on CompuServe then in local BBSs. Suddenly I was able to meet people, talk to people, ask questions to people I had books in my bookshelf from. What an overwhelming experience"! And still these people, although living on the other side of the world and speaking a language other than my mother tongue where willing to communicate with me, answering my silly newbie questions.

I liked that. Not only because I was able to gain knowledge that wasn’t available to me anywhere else. The idea of openly sharing the own knowledge without asking for something in return immediately fell on fertile ground. Lots of UseNet newsgroups and Z-Netz groups became sort of a second home for me.

Over the time I started teaching as well and today I am happy to have a job still providing all these things to me. Of course the time between the idea of creating this community site (Swyx Forum) and the decision to actually do so was hardly measureable.

It is nice to see that there are a number of other people around here having obviously the same idea of communities as I have. I am not going to list names as I definitely do not want to miss someone! But I am sure everyone knows who I am talking about ;-)

Why am I writing about my “community” opinion ?

Well, maybe I am able to give someone that little push that’s still missing to write/answer/publish publicly. It’s not easy for everyone doing so. I still remember my first postings in the CompuServe’s BPASCAL board. I hardly knew about object orientated programming and Borland’s Turbo Vision and my English was practically not existing, but I was eager to learn it. The only chance was ignoring all the nagging voices in me, hoping my ignorance (in terms of language and topic) would be excused, using a towel to dry my sweating hands and just start writing. I am not sure if I would like to read my postings from back then today… ;-)

And after lot’s of help I received online I started helping and sharing myself. You currently have one of outcomes of 20 years of doing so opened in your web browser ;-)

I haven’t still reached the final point of this posting…

If you have something you would like to share with others (call routings, configuration tips, what ever …) don’t hesitate to do so ! Every little bite is worth of being shared, believe me.

No one will be laughed at because of “silly” questions, ideas, postings (including the used language!).

You don’t know where to put the thing you would like to share to ? No problem, you can always use any of the “General” forums. If it doesn’t match someone else will move it to the correct location.

You want to share something that doesn’t fit into any of the forums (like a small tool, an application, a call routing script, or what ever) take a look into the download section.

If you are still uncertain just get directly in touch with me !

After having spoken so much about communities and sharing there is one more thing I want to point your interest to. It is well beyond this community and definitely a strict professional topic, but nevertheless, it covers some of the above mentioned ideas.

Swyx is currently running “Swyx unlimited” campaign (in Germany only) where you are able to provide small videos telling about everyday’s life with SwyxWare. Swyx provides Amazon vouchers for the first 50 sent in videos. Just have a look on it ;-)

The iPad

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:31:35 GMT

John introduces you to Apple's latest invention.

More...

I am not an apple guy…

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:36:32 GMT

but this really looks fantastic

Perspective (Powers of Ten – Part II)

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:06:43 GMT

The both videos in my previous post should have given you already a rough idea of perspective. Here’s another one that clearly states: we are not the centre of the universe !

More...

Powers of Ten

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:56:24 GMT

In 1977, Charles and Ray Eames made a nine-minute film called Powers of Ten that still has the capacity to expand the way we think and view our world. Millions of people have seen the film, and it continues to be shown in classrooms, business meetings, festivals and retreats around the world. Starting with a sleeping man at a picnic, the film takes the viewer on a journey out to the edge of space and then back into a carbon atom in the hand of the man at the picnic, all in a single shot. It is an unforgettable experience.

Each October 10th, the Eames Office celebrates Powers of Ten Day to promote and share this method of viewing ideas from an infinitesimal to a cosmic perspective.

More...

The Most Useless Machine EVER!

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:41:53 GMT

Have you ever thought of constructing your own machine ?

Well, this might be a good inspiration for the beginning…

More...

From large to even larger

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:46:25 GMT

Martin posted a fascinating Lego video this week. Well, when it comes to toys, Lego is not the only thing coming to my mind: of course a model railway is on top 1 of my favourite toys ;-)

Located in Hamburg, Germany, is the by far largest model railway of the world, the Miniatur Wunderland. I have been there countless times being amazed by the creativity, the technology and the size of it.

For some time they are working now on the next huge section, not directly expected on a model railway, but it fit's perfectly: a model airport, with starting and landing planes, taxing to the terminal, getting pushed back, cars busses and tankers driving around, and of course some trains as well.

More...

Would you buy this flat screen ?

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:42:20 GMT

Would you buy this 37-inch flat screen TV for $100 ?

Looks somehow strange, doesn't it ?

Well, honestly, it is no flat screen. But what is it ?

More...

Annual Swyx Forum staff meeting (SFSM) - Day 2

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:52:33 GMT

This year's Swyx Forum staff meeting (SFSM) took place in Oslo last week. These are the brief meeting minutes of day 2.

More...

Annual Swyx Forum staff meeting (SFSM) - Day 1

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:51:32 GMT

This year's Swyx Forum staff meeting (SFSM) took place in Oslo last week. These are the brief meeting minutes of day 1.

More...

Happy Birthday Swyx Forum !

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:05:53 GMT

Last week Swyx Forum silently celebrated it's second birthday. Even I wasn't invited to the party on the server ;-)

More...

10 Years! (Part II)

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:17:33 GMT

About a year after founding Swyx it was time to represent SwyxWare the first time to the public at CeBIT 2000. For this event Swyx Marketing produced a small video showing the advantages of CTI.

Enjoy

More...

A different world

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 08:03:12 GMT

If this has been produced 25 years ago, the world would defiantly be a different one today !

Commodore 64 Original Hardware Laptop

Just imagine that...

Around the world in 80 telescopes

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 07:50:00 GMT

It's been 400 years since Galileo Galilei pointed for the first time in history the newly invented telescope (a set of lenses) into the skies instead of using it for military purpose (for which it was invented for). He quickly discovered that the sky is much larger than expected and things up there do not match with current believes about how the world is functioning. The "knowledge" back then was highly influenced by the church(es) i.e. religions.

He first discovered that the moon is not flat but instead found craters and mountains to be plastic (3D) objects.

When pointing his telescope to the Jupiter the first time he figured three new stars close by the planet. The next night he was quite surprised that these "stars" had moved and also a fourth "star" appeared additionally. He concluded that these were no stars but instead moons orbiting around the Jupiter.

At the same time Johannes Kepler figured from the huge amount of observation data the most famous and advanced astronomer at that time, Tycho Brahe, left after his death, that the orbits of the planets are not a circle but instead an ellipse around the sun. He figured this for the planets Mars and assumed correctly that this is true for all other planets as well. He also provided the mathematics to calculate the positions of the planets correctly (3rd Kepler Law) but failed to explain why the planets orbit the sun the way they do.

This was done some 80 years later by Isaac Newton who took the findings of Galilei and Kepler and extended them by a complete new mathematic and his famous law of gravity.

The idea of the sun being circled by the planets (including the earth) was first developed by Nicolaus Copernicus 80 years before Galilei and Kepler approved it. Brahe didn't believed in Copernicus' idea but still placed the earth into the center of everything. Interestingly his observation data which provided the information for the elliptic orbits also provided the information for this theory.

To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the two most important events on which the modern astronomy, physics and understanding of the world is founded, this weekend (2.-5. April) a huge event is happening all around the world:

100 hours of Astronomy
http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/

Around the world telescopes and planetariums are opened to the public to give everyone the chance to get first hand pictures of what going on above us. To see stars, nebulae's and galaxies with the own eyes.

A special event is

Around the world in 80 Telescopes
http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/webcast

where 80 telescopes around the world provide a 24 hours continuous webcast. The webcast starts on Hawaii and will end there 24 hours later again.

Currently the servers seem to be down due to the high load but I strongly recommend to take a look on them later today/tonight.

In The Know: Teenagers and Alcohol

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:26:00 GMT

In direct response to Morten's blog Are Violent Video Games Adequately Preparing Children For The Apocalypse?

Here is the conclusion...

More...

Happy Birthday Mr. D.

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:43:34 GMT

If you read yourself through all the blogs world wide these days you find that nearly everyone has to say something about Evolution or Charles Darwin. Even those who are more after Creationism.

More...

World submarine racing championship

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:41:31 GMT

Do you think the NHL finals or this years Super Bowl where breathtaking ?

Forget about the ICC Cricket World Cup, the Dakar Rally, the Volvo Ocean Race, the Wimbledon Tennis Championships or the Olympic Games.

The new and most exciting sport of the year 2009 is Submarine Racing !

More...

It's all gone !

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:30:00 GMT

Don't take the following news flash too serious...

More...

Speed dating !

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:09:16 GMT

It is nearly weekend (just a few moments from now) and it is definitely time for the weekend fun ;-)

More...

Almost there

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:22:08 GMT

It's about weekend soon, so let's prepare our self for the night in the cinemas with a couple of movies of all genres.

More...

New Windows Live Writer interface

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 10:24:41 GMT

According to my forum post I have updated the blog module at Swyx Forum which comes with a new Windows Live Writer interface (MetaWebLog API). This posting just tests this interface as it is written using Windows Live Writer.

Bed time stories you might not want to read to your little ones

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:25:37 GMT

Halloween is not far and it's time to prepare your little ones. My advice is to start with good stories to read as bed times stories. Maybe Steven King is not the best choice...

More...

Follow-up: How the markets really work

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 06:59:27 GMT

As a follow-up to my last Fridays post the following is an episode of Bremner, Bird and Fortune, a satirical British television program. John Bird (in the guise of investment banker, George Parr) and John Fortune (together known as the Long Johns) explain a fictitious crash of the money market.

The interesting thing on this is: it was already recorded last year !

More...

The Financial Crisis Explained

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:25:17 GMT

It is Friday afternoon and the financial markets are going crazy. The following is both: Friday afternoon fun and an easy to understand explanation of what's going on.

More...

Early Friday

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:35:07 GMT

As there is a national holiday in Germany tomorrow (German Unity Day) my "Friday fun post" is one day early.

More...

Chrome II

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:01:36 GMT

Regardless if you like your browser to get a unique ID from Google during setup or not: Chrome'sMore...

The Pleasure of finding Things out

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:15:16 GMT

Richard Feynman was one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists and original thinkers of the 20th century. He rebuilt the theory of quantum electrodynamicsm, and it was for this work that he won the Nobel Prize in 1965.

More...

A Tribute To Jim Henson

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:27:13 GMT

I mentioned it more than once here that I am a great fan of Jim Henson's The Muppet Show. I think we all grew up with this fantastic and phenomenal show and Kermit & Co burned them self into our hearts. It is outstanding what one (or many) can do out of some puppets and great talent and inspiration.

More...

The Last Laugh For Tonight

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:37:23 GMT

I told you already that I love the Muppet Show. Today I have some more brilliant snippets on YouTube for you: Statler & Waldorf

More...

German Bureaucracy

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:20:48 GMT

I know, we Germans are known as having the worst bureaucracy in the world. And I tell you what: it's true !

More...

No more Windows 3.11 !

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:02:38 GMT

Microsoft has announced that from November, 1st 2008 it will no longer be possible to license Windows 3.11 for Workgroups.

More...

Grocery Store Wars

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:40:55 GMT

I know, it's not Friday yet. But this one can't wait !

More...

Science Made Stupid

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:42:21 GMT

Since the dawn of time, man has looked to the heavens and wondered: where did the stars come from? He has looked at the great diversity of plants and animals around him and wondered: where did life come from? He has looked at himself and wondered: where did I come from?

Later, he began to ask more complicated questions. He looked in his wallet and asked: where did my paycheck go? Am I on the right bus? Who do you like in the series?

To the former questions, at least, science has provided answers.

More...

E.T.A.

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:49:29 GMT

If coffee isn't working any longer for you ...

More...

Beekeeping

tom.wellige@swyx-forum.de — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:52:32 GMT

It is Friday (and even the 13th) and therefore time for some fun !

More...